Description
THIS NOTICE OF INTENT IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS. This notice is for informational purposes only and is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government. Vendors that believe they can provide the services listed above are invited to submit substantiating documentation in writing to the identified point of contact. This procurement will be processed pursuant to FAR part 12 and Part 13.5. No solicitation will be issued. Information received will be considered solely for the purposes of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. Oral communications are not acceptable in response to this notice. A determination by the Government to compete this proposed contract based on responses to this notice is solely at the discretion of the Government. Responses are to be received within 10 days of this notice. No telephone calls are being accepted. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Economics Research Service, intends to negotiate and award on a Justification for Other Than Full and Open Competition (JOFOC) basis. A purchase order will be one-year firm-fixed price (plus four option years) awarded to Livestock Marketing Information Center (doing business as Colorado State University) of Lakewood, CO for a Livestock Marketing Information Center (LMIC) subscription. Anticipated Date of Award: 11/15/2018. The Livestock Market Information Center (LMIC) provides a single, comprehensive source of data, reports, economic analysis, and information crucial for ERS research on livestock and grain markets, livestock and feed industries, and consumers. LMIC gathers detailed data used by ERS outlook and research programs on livestock markets, meat, poultry, and dairy demand and production, and retail establishments' sales and pricing. Examples of research where LMIC resources were used and was either the only source of information available or was best able to provide the needed resources in the shortest time include the following: • LMIC has information on the livestock, meat, and dairy sectors. It makes out-year projections and provides historical data. LMIC is used to obtain historical time series at state level, weekly, other disaggregated levels, and some custom series for a wide variety of data relevant to the livestock, meat, dairy, and feed sectors. • LMIC provides services and reports on a custom or cooperative basis that are used extensively by ERS staff in the Animal Products and Cost of Production Branch. It offers access to "ingredients market" data such as ethanol co-product market prices and other co-product information. • LMIC data and resources were used to analyze the impact of Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling on livestock sectors of the United States, Canada, and Mexico. LMIC data and reports include such useful variables as weekly prices and slaughter for Canadian cattle and hogs over time.